If Looks Could Kill
by xxmagnetxx
Summary: Hmmm.... Funfunfun. Haha My friend started this story and I kind of picked it up.... Read and review please!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Alrighty, my friend started writing this story ( the first chapter that's in Darius's POV) and I kind of picked it up. It's pretty interesting, and I changed to a different POV in the next chapter, so be warned!

If Looks Could Kill

Hello, my name is Darius Finley. I am 14 years old (soon to be 15), live in a small city called Proctorville in the state of Ohio, go to a small school called Fairland High School, live on a beautiful street, and … have killed 206 people and, sadly, still counting. Bet you didn't see that one coming did you? I didn't want or mean to, it's these damned eyes of mine. Sorry for the language, but I hate them. Ever hear the saying "If looks could kill"? Well, that's exactly my case. They are a goldish color with a red lining and if someone looks directly into my eyes, they die. Right then and there. I can't help it or control it, but I found out if I wear sunglasses, they won't kill anybody. Needless to say I wear them every day of my life and I haven't killed anybody since I was twelve. I moved to Proctorville over the summer and I don't know anybody who lives here, except for the twins across the street. Their names are Matthew "Matt" and Jacob "Jake". They are my best friends from Proctorville, are my age, and go to my school. Matt is a dark guy with long black hair with red highlights on the tips of his hair. He almost always wears black and has his right ear pierced. His brother Jake is completely different. He has short blonde hair and wears bright and colorful things. He's real outgoing and loves to talk. A lot. They're practically opposites and are weird to see in public together. But if you share common interests with them, you can be rather good friends with them. Whoa. Way off subject. Back to my eyes. Well the best way to explain it is to start from the beginning. My parents say the day I was born, an ancient wizard came to them and said that me and seven others would be destined to save the world one day(I don't know when). He said that he had to bestow a gift to all eight children. The gifts are death, light, darkness, transformation, love, foresight, wisdom, and time manipulation. My gift was, apparently, the gift of death. I don't know why he gave it to me, but he did. I just wish he would take it back. He told my parents that it was my duty to find all the children and band together when the right time comes. All eight of the children were born on the same day, October 13, 1994. Meaning we're all the same age, making it a little easier for me to find the others. My friend, Drew Brock, from my old school had the same birthday as me meaning he could possibly be one of the gifted, but we're about a thousand miles apart right now, so if he is I don't know how I could reach him. I'm excited because I start school tomorrow and, hopefully, can find some of the gifted. Although, I'm scared that I may accidently kill someone. But luckily, my dad's a doctor and is writing them a note that says I need to wear the glasses. I already checked and me, Matt, and Jake are in the same homeroom. Saving the world is one difficult thing but tomorrow I start another excruciatingly hard challenge. Becoming a freshman in high school. Maybe I'm not cut out for all this save the world business. I guess I'll tackle that challenge when I get there. Well, I need to get some sleep, big day tomorrow. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. See you guys later.

Chapter 1: The First Day

I woke up early on a Wednesday morning to the smell of fresh bacon. I looked at the clock by my bed. It read 6:30 A.M. I turned over and tried to go back to sleep when all of a sudden a feeling of dread hit me. It was the first day of school. I forced myself to get out of bed, put on my dark black sunglasses, and then stumbled across my messy room to my closet. There I picked out a clean outfit, a black t-shirt and blue jeans. I got dressed and headed down stairs. I rounded a corner and went into the kitchen where I saw my mom busily working at the stove. The aroma of the bacon, biscuits, and gravy hit me like a nuclear bomb. My mom's cooking was incredible. It's a wonder how I've stayed so skinny. I sat down at the table in front of a plate and silverware and greedily reached for the biscuits. I took two biscuits, smothered them in gravy, and then put two strips of bacon on top. I picked up my knife and fork, cut off a small piece, and plunged it into my mouth. It was an explosion of amazing flavor. You probably figured I was used to the taste of my mom's cooking after all these years, but I wasn't. As I went for another piece my mother turned around and screamed, causing me to jump and stab my hand with my fork. "Ouch!" I screamed as I grabbed my hand. "Sorry" my mom said, "You scared me". My mom was a small and slender woman, some would call her petite. She had long brown hair and glistening green eyes. She was smart, funny, and (apparently) easily startled. "It's okay," I said "my fault". A tall, blonde haired man came running down the stairs. "I heard screaming," He said "is everyone alright?" "We're fine dad. I just scared mom a bit" I replied. "That's an understatement" my mom said in the way that only she can. "It's almost time for school," my dad said "shouldn't you be going?" "Okay, right after breakfast" I replied. I picked up my fork and knife and finished eating. I ran to my mom and gave her a hug and she whispered in my ear "No matter what happens, you'll always be my little boy". She says this because I'm taller than her by a good six inches. Then I started walking to school. I turned around, gave one last wave to my parents, and continued on my walk. I walked to the school multiple times over the summer with Matt and Jake. I went across the street and went up to Matt and Jake's house. I rang the doorbell and was greeted by a very exited Jake. "Hey, Darius! You excited about the first day of school too?" I had to laugh. Jake's enthusiasm about everything always made me smile. "Yeah I'm ready. Where's your brother?" I asked. "Matt's in his room. He's on his way now. I don't see why he takes so long to get ready in the mornings. It's so weird". At that moment Matt came to the door and gave me an uncommon smile. He only smiles when he's around people that he likes. I guess I'm one of those people. I feel so lucky. "Hey. What's up?" he asked me in normal, casual tone. "Nothing much. You ready to leave?" I asked. "Yeah come on." He said. He turned around and shouted through the door "Mom, we're leaving. See you after school." After that we started walking the familiar route to school. I looked back at my friends. They looked so weird together. Jake wore a green polo with green Bermuda shorts when Matt wore a black shirt with long black baggy pants. I couldn't help but to smile at the awkward sight.

1

"What are you smiling about?" asked Jake. "At how weird you guys look." I said laughing. "Well we do look weird, considering our p" Jake started before Matt elbowed him in the stomach. "Considering what?" I asked curiously. "Nothing," replied Matt "Nothing at all." "O.K., whatever." I replied. We were talking about video games all the way to school. We went in the front door… and straight into a sea of people. People were meeting with old friends, telling people about their summer, and I just stood there feeling out of place. Matt, Jake, and I made are way to the stairs and climbed up. We dodged the people through the upstairs hall all the way to room number 231, Mrs. Miller. We went to find our seats (which were conveniently near each other). I sat down and… I heard the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. I turned and looked at who had spoken. There was a beautiful girl to match the heavenly voice. "I said are you new here?" asked the beautiful stranger. "Yeah" I said trying hard to keep my voice from cracking from nerves. She had medium length brown hair and bright eyes that glistened like silver moons. She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen and I was so nervous to talk to her. "My name's Charlotte Rose" she said holding out her hand expecting me to shake it. "I'm Darius Finley." Taking her hand and trying to keep my cool. Her hand felt so soft and delicate, if I didn't have to I would never have let go. "So when did you move here?" she asked in her beautiful voice, "Over the summer." I replied trying to be casual. "So what's with the sunglasses?" she asked. Oh man, think Darius think. "I have a medical condition". Nice save Darius. "Oh. Okay. So I'll see you around." She said. "Okay see you." I replied. I turned around and saw that Jake and Matt were both staring at me smiling. "What?" I asked. "Someone has the hotts for Charlotte Rose" said Matt in a mocking tone. "Then again, who doesn't?" said Jake. "Was it really that obvious?" I asked them. "No." said Matt. "Our friend Artemis Dawson told us. We just call her "Art" though." said Jake. I looked in front of him and saw a girl with medium length blonde, curly hair. She had green eyes with a touch of gold and seemed to be in a daze of some sort. She was wearing a pair of black horn rimmed, cat eye glasses. She also wore the same smile as Matt and Jake. "She always seems to know about these kinds of things." said Matt. "About what kinds of things?" I asked. "Love." said Jake bluntly. Love. That's one of the eight gifts. I'll have to keep Art in mind as a possible gifted. At that moment the bell rang. Time for first period. I looked at my schedule. Computer apps in room 218. I went straight down the hall and found the room. I went in, found my seat, and sat down. There was a boy next to me who seemed to be my age. He seemed to be about 6'2 and on the masculine side. He looked over at me and asked the familiar question "You a new kid?" "Yeah." I replied nervously. "Awesome," he said "My name's Valth Williams." "I'm Darius Finley." I said sounding relieved. I don't know why, but Valth and I had a kind of connection. We spent the whole period talking about random things that hardly have any importance, such as television, YouTube, and video games. Before I knew it, I heard the bell ring. "What do you have next period?" I asked Valth. "Algebra. You?" he replied. "The same." I said. After that Valth and I went to room 206: Algebra. Me and Valth sat next to each other and restarted our conversation about our favorite video games. Then the bell rang for class to start. The teacher walked in and closed the door behind her. She was tall with short brown hair, had brown eyes, and wore a kind smile. She gave us a hand-out about the class rules, separated us into assigned seats, and started going over the class rules. Valth was on the opposite side of the room so I couldn't talk to him. I sat through the whole entire class period looking out the window and daydreaming.

2

The bell rang and Valth and I had to separate. I had to go downstairs to CP English 1. I had always been good in that class. I was actually looking forward to it. I descended the stairs and went to room 122. I went into the room and found a seat next to a brown haired girl with blonde highlights and glasses. She seemed to be rather short, probably about 5'2. She was sitting there, lost in thought when I accidently tripped and my binder flew out of my hands and hit her right in the gut. She then snapped out of her daze, and screamed. Everyone in the room looked over at us and I felt really embarrassed so I grabbed my binder and sat down in the only open seat, next to the girl. When everything started to go back to normal, I quickly turned to her and said "Are you alright"? "Yeah," she said "You just scared me." "I scared you?" I asked laughing. "You nearly gave me a heart attack with that scream." I said. "Hehe. Sorry. So you the new kid?" she asked. "Yeah I'm Darius Finley." I said sticking out my hand. "I'm Tara Gracely." She said taking my hand. The teacher walked in and said with a happy voice, "Hello children!" I could tell that she would be a fun teacher to have. We did the same routine as my previous classes, went over the rules and got into our assigned seats. There was also a conversation about cardigans (whatever that is). Before I knew it, class was over. I had gym next with Tara so we went upstairs put our books in our lockers', and went into the gymnasium. We sat down on the bleachers when I heard someone say "Hey Tara. Who's your friend?" I looked up and saw a girl walking toward us with long brown hair and brown eyes. She sat down beside Tara and stared at me expecting an answer. "I'm Darius Finley." I said. "Oh, okay I'm Jeane Princeton." She said. She seemed like an outgoing kind of girl with a touch of complete randomness. I then heard the gymnasium doors open and in walked… Charlotte Rose. Her gorgeous hair flowed behind her as she walked and I saw a glimpse of her beautiful eyes as she flashed me a smile. "I'd stay away from her if I were you." said Jeane interrupting my moment. "Why's that?" I asked curiously. "Cause' she's nothing but trouble." said Tara now entering the conversation. "So's that guy over there." said Jeane. She pointed to a boy who sat alone on the bleachers. He had short blonde hair and wore glasses. He wasn't tall but something about him gave me a bad feeling. "I'll try to stay away." I said to them both. The Gym teacher then came out of his office and did the same as all the other teachers, gave us the rules and regulations. The whole period, while he was talking, I sat and stared at the glorious wonder that was Charlotte Rose. I don't know what it was, but there was something about her that just seemed odd. She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen but for some strange reason, she seemed kind of… evil. Before I had time to contemplate the mystery anymore, the lunch bell rang so I got up and went to lunch. I was first in line seeing how the gym was right across from the cafeteria. I then picked up my tray of food, payed for it, and then picked out a table. I was a circular table so I guess I sat in the middle. But it didn't matter because I was soon joined by Tara and Jeane. They both chose seats right across from me and all of a sudden, I was joined by Matt, Jake, and Art. Matt and Jake sat beside me and Art sat beside Jeane. It turns out they all were friends too. Our table soon had another resident that I didn't know; she had long, brown hair with brown eyes and a couple of freckles. She was tall and also was dressed rather fancy. She sat down next to Art and stared at me awkwardly. Art was the first to notice the strange look and told her "Elizabeth, this is Darius Finley. He's the new kid." she said in her dreamy voice. "Oh. OK, nice to meet you Darius."

3

She said with the strange look disappearing from her face. After that we all started to talk to each other. I looked around the table and realized that I had made a small group of friends on my first day. I also remembered Valth but he has first half lunch and I have second. Then all of a sudden the talking stopped. I looked around and saw that they were all staring at me. "What's up?" I asked them questioningly. Tara was the one to talk. "We've all been wondering something Darius. We just wanted to know… what's up with your sunglasses?" Uh-oh. This is not good. I don't want to lie to my new friends but I can't tell them the truth. So I stretched out the truth a little bit. "I have a condition that I have to wear them." I said casually. Nice save Darius. "What kind of condition?" asked Art. Oh dang. This would be hard to tell. "I don't know. It just has something to do with my eyes so I have to wear them." I answered trying to sound casual. "Well why don't you take them off." asked Jeane. Think, Darius, think. "My eyes are really sensitive to the light." I said in a hurried kind of way. I just wanted to stop playing twenty questions before I run out of answers. "You could wear contacts," said Elizabeth "they make some that make your eyes less sensitive to light." "I… uhh…" I began. "Stop asking questions. It's kind of rude." said Matt. Matt has always been there for me and today was no different. I don't think I could have answered anymore questions about my eyes. After that the bell rang so we all got up, dumped our trays, and went upstairs. I went to my locker and got my things for Biology and History and was quickly joined by Tara and Jake. "So you have Biology next too?" asked Jake. "Yeah but we'd better hurry or we'll be late." I replied. Tara, Jake, and I descend the stairs and go to the Biology room. We all sat next to each other before being separated yet again by the dreaded assigned seat list. The Biology teacher seemed nice. He had gray hair with some touches of black and was a little on the short side. I couldn't tell much about him but he was funny and could make anyone smile in an instant. This would also be a great class; mostly because I'm good at this kind of stuff. Class was let out right after the teacher gave us the familiar class rules and regulations. Tara and I said by to Jake as he went to English. As we went down the hall, we were joined by Matt and a small, black haired girl. "So who's this?" she asked. "I'm…" "Darius Finley." Matt and Tara said finishing my sentence. I guess they were getting tired of that question too. "Oh. Well, I'm Isabella Bennett." she said. I gave her a nod and we continued down the hall. We climbed the stairs and started a random conversation about potatoes. I went to my locker and traded my Biology things for my History stuff. Lucky for me, the History classroom was right across the hall. I went in and found a seat beside Tara. We then, awkwardly, restarted our conversations about potatoes when all of a sudden… Charlotte Rose came in. I swore she flashed me a smile when she caught my eye. She went and sat down beside the weird guy from gym. Then something caught my attention. It was a smell that I haven't smelled for a while, since I was twelve actually. It was the smell of death, and it was coming off of Charlotte Rose. I couldn't help but wonder if she really was trouble. I think I may want to avoid her from now on. Tara saw the worry on my face and quickly asked "Are you okay? You look kind of sick." "Yeah," I said snapping out of my daze "just kind of spaced out for a second, I'm fine." Maybe I just imagined it, oh well. The bell rang and the teacher walked in and, guess what, put us in assigned seats. I was then separated from my friend and… was put right beside Charlotte Rose.

4

There was no mistaking it this time, she smelled like death, meaning she had killed somebody, which was a scary thought to think about. As the teacher went over the rules and regulations, I sat there and contemplated about Charlotte. I was snapped out of my deep thought by the bell ringing. I walked with Tara to my locker and then to hers. We headed down the stairs and she asked me "What do you have next?" "Band, and you?" "Band." she said happily. "You're in band too?" I asked. "Yeah, we all are." she said. "Awesome!" I said as we entered the band room. I went to my band locker and grabbed my trumpet and found my seat. I looked around as everyone took their seats too. I saw that Tara played the French horn, Matt played percussion, Jake played baritone, Art played flute, Elizabeth played clarinet, and Jeane played trumpet with me. We instantly started talking as I told her about the strange potato conversation. I then received my music and organized it in the way it said on the board. I had first part on everything so that made me happy. We then instantly started playing but I couldn't concentrate on my music. I had Charlotte Rose on my brain. I got yelled at a couple of times by the band director, but that didn't matter to me. Before I knew it, the bell rang so I put away my trumpet, got my homework, and then met up with Matt and Jake to walk home. I put Charlotte Rose out of my head for now and talked to Matt and Jake. We laughed and joked around until we got home, then we all went into my house and sat down in my room to do our homework. "So how did you like your first day at Fairland?" asked Jake. "It was really fun actually. I even made some friends." I replied. "By the way, I saw it. You want to be more than friends with Charlotte Rose." said Jake in a sneering way. "At first, yes but now, she gives me an unnerving feeling." I said. "What do you mean?" asked Matt questioningly. "Well, she kind of seems, I don't know …evil." I said. "You sense it too?" said Jake perking up. "Too?" I asked questioningly. "Well we all kind of sense that she's evil too." said Matt. "Who's we?" I asked. "Well there's me, Matt, you, Tara, Jeane, Art, and Elizabeth." said Jake. Whoa! Way too big of a consequence. I wonder… "Hey guys," I said getting a little exited "When's your birthday?" "Why would you want to know that?" said Matt laughing. "Just wondering?" I said, the excitement growing inside of me. "We'll tell you when it gets here." said Jake, who was also laughing.

**Author's Note: Well, that was the part my friend wrote… Mine's up next, meaning that I'm posting it right now. =) Tell me what you thought! Oh and check out my other fanfics! I'm currently working on a VK one! **


	2. Chapter 2

Art.

_ What. The. Hell. _I woke up to the worst noise that I had ever heard. Oh wait, that was just my phone. But who would be dumb enough to call me at…. 6 frickin o'clock?! I rolled over and checked the caller ID, refusing to lose the warmth of my covers by sitting up. "Jake" the screen read. Now, there is no way that Jakey could ever be this stupid. He called me once, on a Saturday, before noon and I ripped him up. I didn't mean to of course, it was just my natural inner demon coming out to play. I only knew one person who it didn't really affect, and… Well, never mind. _Great, now I'm blushing. _My phone kept ringing and I realized that I was just staring at it, fantasizing and lost in thought. Like always.

I groaned and pressed the answer button, hoping that Jake wouldn't be too cheery for my Morning Monster.

"Hello?"

"Art! Why aren't you up?!"

"Uhm. I AM up. In case you didn't notice." I snapped back at him.

"Artismia Dawson, answering the phone like an angry grizzly bear does not qualify as 'being up'," Jake chirped back at me. Really, that's what he sounded like to me. Why couldn't he be like his brother? They were twins, they're supposed to be at least a little alike!

"Jake, my name isn't Artismia. And I'm getting up as we speak. What do you want anyway?" I pushed myself out of bed with a groan, wincing as I lost the sweet shelter of my covers. I hated mornings. Put that along with the fact that my mother kept our house freezing and Jake was interrupting one of my last sleep-filled mornings before school began, and you did not get a very happy Artemis.

" Aaaarrttt!" Yes, he really drew my name out like that, " How can you even ask me that?!"

" Because I really don't know why your calling me before that sun is even up?" I stated my response as a sarcastic question, something I usually did when I was trying to bite someone's head off.

"It's only the most exciting, exhilarating, fun filled day of our lives!.... High School!"

Oh crap! I had completely blanked on what day it was last night! Usually, It'd be easy to remember because school would start back up on a Monday morning, and I would set my alarm on Sunday night for 6 AM. But this year, for some reason (probably involving the "downfall of American intelligence" as my father likes to put it) they moved classes up to a Wednesday. That must have been why my parents were all set on making me pack my book bag and eating early. They probably said something about it, but I had been too busy making my plans for Friday, not realizing that we would be back in school. My stomach got butterflies just from thinking about it. I wonder if I'll have to cancel now?

"Heeellllooo? Art, are you there? Earth to Sergeant Dawson, can you hear me?" Oops. Jake had been talking at me the whole time I had been zoned out.

" I, yeah, I'm here. It's just I forgot about school staring back earlier this year and-"

"What you mean," He said in That tone of voice, " Is that you forgot it started on a Wednesday because you were too busy dreaming about your secret lovebird." Uh-oh. How did he find out?... He's always known about my gift, the gift of love is what he calls it, but I don't ever remember sharing with him about my love life.

"Jake! Please-"

" Chill Arty! I'm just kidding around! Anyway, what are you wearing? I'm assuming that you've already planned an outfit." Actually, I hadn't, and by the tone of his voice I could tell that he was more than willing to assist me in my little problem.

" I don't…"

" But you got new clothes over the summer, yeah?"

"Uhhm yeah." I had already jumped up and over to my closet doors when I realized what today actually was, and now I was stepping inside and talking through my 'options' with Jake. Sometimes, I think he might be a little more fashionably intuitive than I am. But, nonetheless, I have style, even if it is all my own.

We finally agreed on something simple, dark skinny jeans that seriously bordered on leggings and a lacy tank top layered with a Chinese-style shirt that had a dipping neckline (happily made modest by my lacy undershirt). Jake would have left the under shirt off if I hadn't of fought with him about it, and he would have had me in leggings, too! But, as this was the least skankiest of his options, it's the one I chose, and tweaked slightly. Instead of putting on the teal suede boots like Jake had instructed me, I grabbed my blue converses, sticking my boots in my bag when I noticed that someone, most likely my best friends, had wrote " Smile! Your mom chose life!" with a smiley face all over every available space on my shoe.

By the time I got done talking my outfit through with Jake and putting it on, I realized that his phone call had made me miss my bus. My parents had already left, thinking that I had slipped out without their notice again, and I was now stuck with no way to get to school. With a sigh, I glanced at the living room's great grandfather clock and decided that I would have to walk like fire to make it to school on time. Grabbing my bag and slinging it over one shoulder instead over across my body, I high tailed it out my front door, checking to make sure it locked, and out onto the eleven mile walk to Fairland High School.

I hadn't gotten very far when I heard a car horn bleep and tires stopping next to me. I looked up from where I was headed and strained to see through the tinted windows of the deep purple GTO beside me. It didn't bother me that I was staring into some strange car, or that a stranger had pulled up next to me. I could sense that this man cared about me and, I'm not sure why, had no intent of ever hurting me.

See, that was my gift. Not empathy exactly, but love. Yeah, L-O-V-E. Pretty lame gift, huh?

**Author's Note: Sooo? What did ya think? Love it? Hate it? Criticize? Just click the button and review! Oh and tell me who you think Art's secret lovebird is! If you get it right I might have a surprise…. A surprise for all of you who review too! Can you say preview? ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Alrighty, so here's chapter three. Yeah, it's short, but I wasn't actually going to upload this because of my lack of reviews. Lucky that I looked at my hits, huh? ;) So please guys, review! **

See, that was my gift. Not empathy exactly, but love. Yeah, L-O-V-E. Pretty lame gift, huh? But it's not as weird, or as completely stupid, as it sounds. Sometimes it comes in handy, and others not so much. I can tell when people love each other or when they don't. Usually I can tell if someone is lying. I'm not sure about the how or why on that one, but my guess is that it has something to do with the kindness their feeling if they tell the truth. And, I've recently discovered that I can make people believe that they're in love or that they're not. I can tell if a love is going to last, or if one of them is being unfaithful. So basically, I control love. Yes, I know that it's sick and twisted that I have the ability to warp one of people's most precious feelings, but I can't help it! It was something I was born with, and I try not to use those parts of my power too often. The only people who knew were my closest friends, as they all had gifts as well and we all blabbed about them about ten years ago, and my Uncle Solomon, who specializes in supernatural happenings but is sworn to secrecy.

"Art? Artemis Dawson?" The dark window of the car rolled down and I could at last see the mystery driver on the inside.

"Oh! Max! What are you doing here?" Max was my neighbor. He was only two years older than me, and we got along pretty well. Sadly, he played football and soccer, while I was in the band and danced, so we never got to spend that much time together.

" Well, I saw you leave your house-don't worry I wasn't stalking you, I was getting Josie back inside- and thought that I should go after you and offer you a ride. After all, you don't won't to be late for your first day of high school, do you Art?"

"I… No. I don't." I looked away from his shining blue eyes as I answered. The cat story was believable, but I still can't believe the interest I get from him sometimes.

"Do you want a ride or not Art?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Of course!" I smiled as he hopped out of his fashionable car and went around to open the passenger door for me. That was another thing I just could not understand. This 6'4, copper-haired, blue eyed jock god was completely and totally a gentleman. He was intelligent, too. Chivalrous, intelligent and giving off feelings of contentment mixed with love at seeing me sit in his car. Wow, I thought to myself, this guy is a serious catch. To bad his feelings were, for the most part, unreturned. And now I have to deal with playing 50 questions with my friends when they see me get out of Max freakin Belovous's car!

The fifteen minute drive to school was pleasant to say the least. Max and I covered all sorts of topics. We caught up on how we'd spent our summers and reminisced about old times when we spent our summers together. Sooner than I expected, we were pulling into the student parking lot. Max reached into his dashboard and pulled out his parking pass. Since I was on the passenger side, he was forced to lean over me and into my lap, causing me to feel more uncomfortable than before. Now, if it had been a certain someone else, I wouldn't have minded in the least. Max must have noticed my sudden tension, because he smiled at me and started to talk.

"Artemis, relax. I just had to get out my pass. I wasn't trying anything funky with you, I swear!" He laughed and jokingly made a fist out of his hand and placed it over his heart, looking her dead in the eye. " I will never hurt you. Or push you. Never. I won't let anyone. Ever." Ok… Now that might have been just a little too freaky for even me, and I was the Queen of weird.

"Gee thanks, Sir Max. So honored am I to have you pledge your undying loyalty to me." I almost laughed as I said the words. Almost. I'm too sure why they came out of my mouth. Maybe it was just easy to be around Max, and that was something I truly cherished, even if he could get a little strange. Maybe I shouldn't have responded to him the way I did, even if I was half joking. He got this gleam in his eye that even he couldn't have denied and leaned over to take my hand.

"Art, do you, ah, do you have a boyfriend?" Oh no. This could be going no where good.

"Ok, listen I probably shouldn't have asked that. It's just, I feel this weird protective urge towards you now, and I just wanted to make sure that whoever you do have, because you obviously have someone, treats you well. And if he, or anyone for that matter, doesn't, you come to me." I have absolutely no clue what to say. So, naturally, I open my big mouth and out pops the absolute wrong thing.

"Why do you think I have someone, Max?"

"You blushed, and kind of shrank back in your seat when I asked you about him. Are you saying you don't? Because, Artemis, I would absolutely love to accompany you to the dance." Ok, What?? Max Belovous, my life long neighbor and friend, suddenly pulls out his 'protective male instincts' and wants to take me out? Let me list the ways I am so not going there.

"Homecoming?" I asked in a small, meek voice.

"Ah, Yes."

"I think… I think-" I was cut short by the bell ringing for all of the students who were loitering outside to head in. It didn't seem like that much time had passed while we were talking.

"I think I'll have to get back to you. Bye!" I shot out of his car like a bat out of hell and ran around a light pole, hoping to make it look like I had just ran from the softball fields and not some guy's car. Not that my friends would believe that, of course. I was awful at any sport. Except for badminton. I was the badminton pimp.

**Author's Note: Soooo? Does anyone actually like this? As soon as I get my FIRST review for this I'll start writing more…. Tell me what you think; REVIEW! Pleeeaassee! (I know I'm whiny=) )**


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